Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals After Dark, #6)

by Kresley Cole

From the internationally bestselling author, Kresley Cole, comes this spellbinding story of a demon king trapped by an enchantress for her wanton purposes and the scorching aftermath that follows when he turns the tables.

Rydstrom, fallen king of the Rage Demons, has been fighting endlessly to seize his crown back for centuries. Then he is tricked into the lair of an exquisite enchantress who derails his plans. If Rydstrom succumbs to her temptation, everything he's worked for will be lost. But as he struggles to resist her wicked seduction, his lust for the enchantress only grows. 

Sabine the Sorceress of Illusions has long accepted her fate: to seduce a demon king. But once she kisses the brutal warrior, she realizes seduction is far from the punishment she'd feared. As they begin to fall for one another, a sinister enemy comes between them. Will Sabine give up the only life she knows to save her demon or will the proud king lay down his crown to keep his sorceress?

• ISBN10: 1849834172
• ISBN13: 9781849834179
• Publish Date: 10 November 2011 (first published 20 January 2009)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 10 July 2023
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[FranJessca @ A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog]

First Read: May 2010

Second Read (Listened): March 6-8, 2019

Third Read: December 10-16, 2021

Kiss of a Demon King is the sixth book to Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series. This would be my third time reading this book. I read it the first time in 2014 and then again in 2019. I’m re-reading the series since the next book, Munro releases in January 2022. I needed a refresher of the series since it’s been a while. I love re-reading this series. I always fall harder for Kresley’s characters in this world. 

Storyline/My Thoughts: First, I realize this book is a lot of readers’ favorite, but unfortunately, this has to be one of my least favorites. It’s not just because of the female character Sabine, but also because of Rydstrom. There’s also the issue of Omort the Deathless in this book. There are villains you hate, but there are villains that are sick and twisted, and this one was sick and twisted. I felt ill the whole time with him in the story.

Here’s the gist of the story without giving too much away. If you had read Cadeon’s story before this book, you would’ve found out that Rydstrom was captured by a so-called damsel in distress who was the Sorceress of Illusions, Sabine (She’s the half-sister of Omort the Deathless. Omort is the one that stole the crown from Rydstrom.) Sabine now has Rdystrom in the dungeon of his castle in his kingdom. She’s on a mission to get pregnant by Rydstrom by his baby and be the Queen of his kingdom. There’s also something else in the story that needs to happen that Omort needs for her to do. Omort does not like that his half-sister has to sleep with the Demon King. This is when the readers find out that Omort has feelings for Sabine. There’s also something that Omort does to Sabine and her sister that is unforgivable, and I find it very disturbing. I hated this part of the book. This was at least one thing I aligned with Sabine in the story and wanting revenge against Omort. I could not stomach Omort and found him disturbing. He is the worst villain in the series (at least so far).

Here’s the thing that bothered me about this book, though. Rydstrom changes when he becomes captured due to how Sabine tortures him. (Cadeon and Rydstrom changed personalities, and you can tell within this book.) There’s also the issue that he knows she’s his fated mate. He’s fallen for her, but Sabine doesn’t want to fall in love. I can understand, though, because Kresley goes into detail about some of Sabine’s past and why she is the way she is, and there is her sister she loves dearly. I couldn’t connect with Sabine, though. I couldn’t connect with Rydstrom, too, especially towards the end of the book, when Sabine was trying to get back to her sister. There are some scenes between both the characters that are disturbing. I sometimes thought they shouldn’t be fated mates. Although, in the end, I could understand why they were fated mates after everything happened. They actually were made for each other in a weird kind of way. I’m glad, though, that Sabine and Melanthe have a strong relationship as sisters, and you get that in this book.

I was more excited that Cadeon and Holly appeared in the book, and there was a follow-up to their book. Rydstrom was surprised to find out the news of Cadeon and Holly when he didn’t want revenge on his fated mate, Sabine.

The question is if Rydstrom will get his crown back in this book? You’ll have to read it to find out. He definitely didn’t have it easy getting it back, and he should be very thankful for what his brother had to go through to get the sword from Groot.

Oh, if you are a fan of Gena Showalter’s Lord of the Underworld series, you’ll hear Nix mention that she has to go to Budapest to meet the Lord of the Underworld guys. I love that series and will be re-reading that series next because I’ve missed that series too and have a few of the books to catch up on in that series. I love the fact that Nix played a role in that series. 😉

I give Rydstrom and Sabine’s story 3.5-stars. It may not be my favorite because of the characters, but I still enjoyed the storyline. I really liked the ending.

Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the Immortals After Dark series, and I recommend reading in order.

Steaminess: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫

Trope(s): Fated Mates; Enemies to Lovers

Would I recommend this book? Yes. If you are a fan of PNR, then I recommend the Immortals After Dark series. Kresley Cole is the Queen of Paranormal Romance.

[kimbacaffeinate]

I adore Rystrom Woede.  He once ruled the kingdom of Rothkalinaand before it was taken by Omort. I was intrigued by the saucy Sabine, the Sorceress of Illusions. In a nutshell, Sabine is sent by Omort the Deathless, her evil asshat of a brother to conquer Rydstrom in order to thwart his brother from obtained the sword that could mean his demise.

Oh, my the fun we had in this dark and delicious tale. Sabine sets out to seduce him and gets more than she bargained for. Both have a lot riding on the outcome of events, and yet they are wildly attracted to each other, soulmates if you would.

Their banter, bite and obvious destain for each other complicated by unexpected emotions made for one heck of a listen as these two tried to best the other. I admired both of them and felt their personalities complimented each other. Both have secrets which created conflict, and I loved the way it was revealed. Of course, our beloved Nix was involved. Oh if I could spend an afternoon chatting with this witty seer. Once again she had me a laughing aloud from her thoughts to her interference.

I will warn you that there are bondage and control elements present, not to mention Sabine kidnaps Rystrom. This, however, is war, and both give as good as they get. I felt these elements rang true to the storyline and fitted the characters. Plus, I think they both derived some pleasure from it and each needed the strength the other possessed. Cole managed to have me holding my breath and shedding a tear or too as I prayed for an HEA.

Cole continues to amaze me with her world building, and while we travel, I loved time spent in NOLA. Her ability to weave suspense, dark elements, passion and off the chart humor make me giddy. After finishing this, I splurged and bought the next four audios.

If you haven't started the series I urge you to listen. Robert Petkoff does a phenomenal job with these characters and the series in general. Each character has a unique voice and he brings them to life. Like Renee' Rudman and the writing team of Ilona Andrews, I cannot image Cole without Petkoff. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer